For seven years, the European Union has maintained sanctions against Ukraine’s top government officials connected to fugitive ex-President Viktor Yanukovych.
Each year, the list gets shorter.
On March 3, the ambassadors of the 27 European Union member states agreed to remove fugitive former Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk and former National Bank Head Serhiy Arbuzov from the EU’s sanction list.
Rikard Jozwiak, the editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reported on Twitter that the EU ambassadors agreed to prolong sanctions against 177 people and 48 entities accused of undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The sanctions were prolonged for six months.
“In a separate document, the EU prolonged sanctions against Yanukovych and seven members of his government and administration. Arbuzov & Tabachnyk de-listed,” JozwiakF wrote.
Those who remain on the list include the ex-president’s son Oleksandr Yanukovych, ex-Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko, his deputy Viktor Ratushnyak, ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka and his son ex-lawmaker Artem, fugitive oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko and former Tax Service Head Oleksandr Klymenko.
All of them were in office during Yanukovych’s reign and are wanted in Ukraine for corruption, abuse of office and treason. Most of them are hiding from prosecution in Russia.
The sanctions were first introduced in 2014, after the Euromaidan Revolution ousted Yanukovych and his allies from power. Yanukovych and his allies took part in suppressing the initially peaceful protest, killing over 100 demonstrators.
After Yanukovych was gone, endemic corruption was uncovered. Yanukovych’s lavish Mezhyhirya Residence, a 140-hectare estate some 10 kilometers north of the capital, became known as the museum of corruption.
However, one by one, Yanukovych’s henchmen are being taken off the sanction list.
In 2020, the EU dropped sanctions against Yanukovych-era Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky.
